Honda Lawnmower Sets Speed Record of 117 Friggin’ MPH

http://www.wired.com/2014/04/honda-mower-record/



For some, there’s nothing better than spending a lazy Sunday cutting the grass on a riding mower. For others, ripping around a racetrack is the perfect way to unwind on the weekend. Honda thought they could combine the two, and the result is a 109-horsepower beast that just set the world speed record for lawnmowers. Yes, that’s a thing.

Honda’s U.K. division joined up with its British Touring Car Championship partner Team Dynamics and tore apart a Honda HF2620 Lawn Tractor before revamping the whole thing with a custom-fab chassis and a 1000cc engine from a Honda VTR Firestorm motorcycle. For good measure, the team took the suspension and wheels from an ATV to cope with the extra grunt.

Of course, this is a lawn mower we’re talking about. Guinness, sticklers that they are, required that the Mean Mower be able to actually cut grass. So Team Dynamics created a custom cutter deck out of fiberglass and installed a fuel tank, high-capacity oil cooler, and secondary water cooler for the radiator in the mower’s grass bag to preserve as much of the look of the original tractor as possible.

There’s a six-speed paddle shift tranny, along with a custom racing seat and exhaust, and since they couldn’t find the right size steering rack for something this small, they pilfered one from a Morris Minor. All that adds up to a mower geared for a top speed in excess of 130 mph with the 109 hp 1000cc engine propelling its 308 pounds from 0-60 in just 4 seconds.